You have to paint like you're in a race. I've written before, here, about how things get changed around, out in the country, and it just happened to me again.
After my last post about transferring an image to a primed board, I went to paint that scene. And everything was different.
After my last post about transferring an image to a primed board, I went to paint that scene. And everything was different.
I'd started the drawing on drizzly days with heavy grey clouds. Now it was sunny and bright, with rim lit cumulus.
There was lovely, long, luscious grass that was full of textures and colour. Which I'm going to be painting from memory, since the farmer started mowing it the minute I set up my easel and began to paint.
A return to the same spot for a second session went well. I have a new favourite colour: Mars Orange mixed with Burnt Umber to make a warm undercoat for the sky. After two hours on site, I have enough information to finish the painting at home. Which is just as well, since the farmer started mowing again the moment I showed up. If I'd stayed any longer I suspect he'd have started cutting down the trees I was painting.
When I am Emperor, I shall hire teams of midget thespians to disguise themselves as grey aliens and terrorize the local farming community, so that they cower indoors and refrain from mowing their fields. At least until I'm done painting them.
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| By Jeremy Burgin on Flickr |
